Introduction
There can be no denial of the fact that in the age of technological boom and globalization, the domain of media and the Internet have come to majorly influence the domain of communication. Indeed, a sea of change has come about in the mode of communication as it is mostly dependent on technology in the present era of ICTs. (Rothkegel & Ruda 2012) But, apart from the predominance of technology mediated communication among people of the world and dissemination of information all over, the world of media and the Internet has come to revolutionize the domain of inter-cultural communication in the human society. A close scrutiny of the matter in context would provide a much better explication of the influence of mass media and the Internet on inter-personal communication when difference of cultural identity or context comes to work a major factor. Media and the Internet, in fact, work to neutralize the barriers to intercultural communication in the present era making way for universality in the messages that are disseminated or communicated.
Main Body
Firstly, one needs to realize the fact that the world society is marked by differences in communities and cultures. The differences in community and culture indicate the linguistic variety of the world population. As such, it is quite normal that a person belonging to one linguistic community would find hindrance when it comes to communication with someone else from another linguistic community. (Jackson 2014) Not only would the verbal language be different, cultural context would also lead to immense differences in non-verbal language, thereby complicating the entire endeavor of communication between the two communities and the people. In a world of the past, where media or the Internet did not have a role to play intercultural communication was, hence, a major issue that would thwart the process of mingling among people of various communities. Also, dissemination of message or information from one part of the world to another was a huge challenge due to the incomprehensibility of the other languages that people were not accustomed with. Translating and comprehending the messages or understanding the significance and context of communication was quite a challenge in the previous era before the boom of the media and the advent of the Internet. However, it was in the last century that immense development in the field of technology led to globalization. (Piller 2011) Globalization had huge impacts on the entire world population in a number of ways including the domain of inter-cultural communication. While previously communication between two different cultures would have room for misinterpretation and lack of understanding, this came to get changed drastically after the omniscience of media and the Internet in the world. Globalization went on to give rise to this concept of ‘global village’ where there is room for mingling and communication of the various cultures of the world. It needs to be reminisced that the previous era of human civilization was marked by the impediments due to the geographical distance and the difference of time. This would also have on inter-cultural communication across the world as traversing the distance and dealing with the time difference became major issues in dissemination of information or effective communication. Although there was scope for telephonic communication, that could not neutralize all the impediments. The media too was not globalized and was limited to a particular geographical region. Thus, different cultures and societies had different media houses that would focus on local or regional news.
However, in the present times, all of this has come to get transformed as the impediments causes by difference of time and distance have come to become neutralized. This has been possible due to the omnipresence of the Internet. The Internet makes sure that the entire world is connected via the service, thus facilitating communication in the best possible manner. Now, people can reach out to others in entire different parts of the world at the click of the mouse. Apart from minimizing the costs of communication, Internet provides the scope for spread of a global culture. Already English has come to be taken as the global language. This works to serve as a massive bridge among the various cultures of the world. (Chen, The Impact of New Media on Intercultural Communication in Global Context, Para 5) The language can also be used a perfect medium of communication among people belonging to various cultures so as to make others understand the cultural markers and ethnic practices of the communities. Thus, there can be no denial of the fact that there is immense of scope of erasing any misconception or misinterpretation that might have been there previously so as to replace it with proper understanding off cultures and communities. Even if one does not know the English language, the Internet provides easy translation of various languages from different corners of the world. (Neuliep 2011) Thus, one can easily get to know facts and information about some other community or culture. Also, the Internet provides ample information in general about various cultures, communities and languages from the various parts of the globe. The entire communication process having been revolutionized in the last few decades, it is easy to gather information about alien cultures so as to foster am ambiance of mutual understanding and proper communication among the people of the society.
The Internet also comes with the immensely popular social media platforms that play a major role in the communication process among people of the world in the present era. There are a number of very popular social media platforms on the Internet that provide the people with the option of setting up their profiles in the virtual domain. Now, people from all over the world use the social networking platforms, thereby facilitating communication among people from different cultures. A substantial enhancement in the scope of communication among people of different cultures catapults the scope of understand each other better, thus leading to a better relationship among people from different cultural identities and communities. (Omnistudio, Cross-Cultural Communication through Social Media, Para 1) Social media platforms provide the option of translation of unknown languages for an individual, further helping the process of inter-cultural communication among the people. Apart from this, there are options of video chatting and conversation over communication applications that work on the smartphones as well as on the computers. Hence, in a world that is totally driven by the impetus of technological communication and the Internet, barriers to intercultural communication have come to be minimized. One can easily find an interpretation to an unknown gesture or word on the Internet by a simple search. (St.Amant 2002) The social media platforms on the Internet neutralize the effect of time and spatial difference as well. Thus, socialization with a person from another community makes the individual have knowledge and understanding of the customs, practices and norms of that other culture and society. This enhances respect and understanding of different cultures in the modern day world. While there is an ongoing debate about the cons of monoculture in the world owing to the surmounting effect of globalization and hegemonic influence of the dominant culture, this is the flip side of the story where the development in technology ad globalization also makes way for exploration and comprehension of new cultures so as to bridge the gap between the societies. (Sorrells & Sekimoto 2016) It would correct to opine that in the present times, films have come to bridge the gap between cultures as well with the audio-visual representation of native cultures that can cater to the world audience owing to the global reach of the Internet. The cultural markers, the language along with the subtitles, and the customs are all reflected in the cinematic works that get streamed on the Internet or are made available for buying or downloading for the users from across the world.
Apart from the enormous effect of the Internet, the media too has a huge role to play in the process of bridging the difference between the various communities and cultures of the world, thereby promoting inter-cultural communication among people. Media has the omnipotent power of dissemination of information and news all across the society. With the advent of the Internet, media houses too have got the great opportunity of reaching out to the people of the entire world society. (Bennett 1998) While previously there was predominance of print media, television news and radio as the modes of dissemination of news and information, now the internet lets the media houses to set up their own websites and upload the articles, information or videos on the website. Further, these media websites are promoted and popularized among the people of the world society via the social networking platforms on the Internet. As such, there is an understandable overlapping of various factors that can play the effective role of catalysts in the enhancement of intercultural communication. (Jandt 1995) There can be no debate about the fact that social networking apps or websites provide the media websites with the much needed exposure to the people from all corners of the globe. Although media houses have come to reach out to a global mass in the present times, it has to be understood that the main readership or popularity of the media houses remain based on the region of origin of the institution. As such, a media house like Al-Jazeera would surely report news from all over the world, but would have a focus on the regional issues of the Middle Eastern nations. Likewise, CNN or BBC would broadcast or upload information about the entire world, but with utmost importance to the incidents in the North American region, and so on. The essence of globalization and the intertwined relationship of the societies and cultures in the modern day world are reflected in the printed media, radio or television news as well.
As such, one has to reckon the fact that media opens up new avenues of exploration of new cultures and societies for the readers or the audience. A person who would read an online newspaper or watch the news of television or listen to the radio would have access to the information regarding the occurrences of his or her own region as well as the other parts of the world. (Kraidy, Globalization of Culture Through the Media, Para 2) Similarly, when a person residing in Japan or America watches Al-Jazeera, he or she would not only have information about the occurrences of the world, but would also get to know about the societal occurrences and milieu of the Middle Eastern region. Thus, it becomes very clear that the media has opened the path of exchange of information among people of various communities and cultures. This in turn is bound to facilitate the intercultural communication among people of the world as the information that is spread globally in the present era creates a proper understanding of previously alien cultures and communities across the entire globe. The portrayal of the localized as well as globalized issues in the media houses of the world today works as one the most effective processes of fostering the dissemination of information of the world society. (Diplo, Intercultural Communication, Para 1) This bridges the wide gap that used to exist before among cultures. It needs to be reckoned that the gap was there since there was lack of communication and information about the other culture. This led to the influence of ethnocentrism and stereotyping of cultures and people of many corners of the world. The stereotyping of the cultures would eventually lead to a bias and that would work as a major barrier among people hailing from different cultural identities in the world. (Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern 2002) Previously, people would judge a culture based on the cultural and societal parameters of his or her own culture. This was truly a very erroneous approach toward exploring cultures and communities. However, in the present times, this impediment has come to be countered due to the scope of dissemination of information with such ease and massive reach across the society.
Conclusion
Hence, it would be correct to conclude by saying that the challenges to intercultural communication in the present era of technological development and globalization have come to be undermined. More and more people of the society are able to understand the other cultures and even engage in direct communication with people who come from other cultural identities. (Stier 2006) This is truly a huge step toward the neutralization of lack of communication or misconstruing of people coming from other cultures. The world has taken the form of this ‘global village’ where the communities and cultures are closely linked to one another by the media and the Internet. This facilitates interaction among people and fosters a global ambiance of respect for the various identities. The media has a very responsible role to play in this as it is empowered with interpretation and dissemination of information from different parts of the world. (Rogers & Steinfatt 1999) On the other hand, the Internet has opened up new avenues of exploration for the individual. The neutralization of cultural misrepresentation that has led to comprehension of customs, practices and linguistic identities of people would surely lead to a better future for human nature where the world society would be marked by international and inter-cultural human unity.
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